Day 18 - Tuesday 21 May - Sofia to Skopje

Tuesday 21 May,  Day 18

After yesterday's debacle, we allowed plenty of time to get to the bus station for our trip to Skopje.  We were glad to see a big coach pull up, and there were only 15 passengers, so we had a double seat each. 

We said goodbye to the dingy high-rise apartment blocks, 

 and headed south, past a big snowy mountain, then through farming country. 

 

The houses are bigger and better, and at last I was able to photograph, though not clearly, a horse and cart.

We had a break in a little village where they were building a new church.

We reached the border after about an hour, the formalities took about 45mins, and we were in the Republic of Northern Macedonia.

We followed a little stream for a while, which gurgled along quickly.  We noted that the country seemed to be more prosperous, which has happened each time as we have progressed south.  There were orchards and vegie gardens, solar installations, fewer derelict buildings and everything looked in better condition - except the highway which was patched and bumpy.

We got to Skopje at about 14:30, and settled ourselves in our apartment only 5mins walk from the bus station.  It could quite comfortable fit a family, and stretches the width of the building, so has windows on both east and west.  So we headed out to see the town.

We went across the river to find a roof-top restaurant which was supposed to have a good view of the city.  We got sidetracked in the old bazaar, looking at the shops, then going through the fruit and vegie market (1kg of strawberries for 80mkd = $2.10).   This is the street of jewellery.

 
 But while we were there, David did spot the hotel, so we walked around the block, and invited ourselves in.  It was just a coffee bar on the 7th floor, but we were the only guests, so we had our drinks, and took some photos and left again.

One of 3 old caravanserai in the bazaar area, still in use for various purposes.

By then I was worn out,  and we had the usual problem of how to get home - which bus, how to pay, where to get it etc.  So we stood around trying to read the destination signs, but couldn't, and as usual, accosted a local for help.  The young lady spoke good English, and gave us some bus numbers, but because we couldn't buy a bus card on-line, ended up coming with us out of her way, and paying for our ride with her card, refusing to be compensated.  People have been very kind.

So we hit the big supermarket  and the 'Target'-like Jumbo store in the mall opposite our place, and eventually got dinner.